Time
by Reasons Lost
Summary: A series of interlocking one shots that will eventually tell a story of betrayal. I think you'll be shocked to learn who the traitors are. Link's PoV. Updated! DISCLAIMER, Zelda and all things to do with are owned by Nintendo.
1. Prologue

_Time. Time. Time. I'm so sick of Time. At first it seemed like Time was my ally, like I had all the Time in the world, and I could even control Time, but no-one, not even the Hero of Time, can truly control something so infinite. Even the Goddesses themselves cannot stop what they have set in motion. And now I am guardian to eternity, their thrice damned bastard child._

_How many times now? I've lost count. How many centuries? It all seems like such a distant concept, and one that's left me bitter, and numb, like I live outside the legend that is supposed to be my legacy. Hero..? Hardly; I think it seemed so at first, if only to me. After all, no one else could remember. I wish I were so lucky._

_It's been so long, and yet, the memories are all so perfectly, crystal clear. The first time was the worst, and possibly the best. I appear young now, but the first time was the only time I was truly young. The first time - the time no-one remembers - the time it felt the most significant, the time that took my life away. I wish I'd just stayed in bed._

_So long ago…_

_It was early spring, and for the last time in my life, I had no idea what time it was. I was asleep, if the nightmare I was having could be called sleep. That was the first time I'd ever see the face of the enemy. My enemy? Or perhaps he was just my unfortunate counterpart, trapped, just as I am, in the curse of forever. _

_"Link? Link! Wake up Link! Can Hyrule's fate really depend on such a lazy boy?" The shrill, musical voice of a fairy. At the time I'm not sure whether I really heard or understood her words, but later.. It all became clearer somehow. Though, just then, I was happy to have a fairy to call my own, a friend. She was company, of a sort. And the Great Deku Tree wanted to see me, and only me? Specifically me? It was a big day for me; I had no idea that from the moment I'd awoken, the weight of the world had already been dropped on my sleeping shoulders. I was ten._


	2. Ungrateful

**A/N:** I'm going to take this story in one or two directions that may be a bit unpopular. Be warned! Also, incase it is not immediately apparent.. I do not own The Legend of Zelda nor anything to do with it. These are all properties of Nintendo, who pwn. (and had best release the new game soon).

**Ungrateful**

_Ungrateful... They're all ungrateful. Once, there were a few who kept me going. They were innocent and kind, and made the world worth fighting for. Once, I felt significant, even if no one knew my name. I felt like a hero. Now it's all gone. They're ungrateful, and I couldn't care less for their fate. What had they cared for mine? What of me? Again and again... They used me. I was their saviour, I gave up everything.. And they used me. Then, when my part was over, they were ungrateful. And I? I was obsolete... _

_I wish I could forget it all once more. But I can't. I wish I had backed down ages ago, but I couldn't. Anyone else... They could have, anyone else could have been human... And I am less than that. So my story ends, and the story I have to tell... Begins. I could not always remember. For centuries I was reborn; the amnesiac hero with half a soul. This clean slate with each ressurrection was deemed a "mercy" by the goddesses. In a sense, it was. Though that did little to satisfy my hunger for answers once I had finally gained any sort of understanding. What else could I have done, with a soul that knew only forward? That knew only courage? There was no surrender. Never. For that, they are ungrateful..._

_It was not so long ago, only a few weeks infact, I fought Ganondorf for the last time. I did not wonder then, if once it was over I'd be sent back in time to lose the last and only friend I'd have left, and fade into obscurity, if I'd be sent on my way, If they'd forget me again. If they'd hate me, or have some other job for me.. As it always was... Because I could not remember those times. If I could, I may have shaken Ganondorf's hand and given him my blessing. To his credit, he tried to save me._

_Zelda dismissed all of Ganon's talk during our battle as attempts to get under my skin. Like she always has.. I think, sadly, he has always been right. This time however, he seemed desperate in a way even an amnesiac could recognise. There was truth to his words. I know now that what little mercy the goddesses had on me, they did not see fit to have on Ganondorf. His memory is long and bitter, but he has grown wise. Wiser than Zelda, and for that I think he may have finally won. I find it greatly ironic that for all his endless power, it was a few words and the goddesses own mechanic to keep him in check that cemented his victory. _

-------------------------

I stood before the imposing twin doors for quite some time, not out of fear, or out of hesitation, but out of reverence. Maybe it was the sheer atmosphere, the impending climax, that made the music so enthralling as I stood in the shadow of those collosal gates to his throne room. The tune seemed so familiar.. As it should have. It's a shame I didn't recognise the song of time then. He must have had centuries to perfect it by ear.. The layers of melody and rhythm were beyond mortal composers, and I had to stop and listen. I thought it would be the last time I'd ever hear such a powerful ballad.

As the notes faded, I knew no other way than forward, as I always have... I pushed open the door, and stepped into the open hall, flanked with pillars and capped with an ornate arched ceiling... And he stood opposite me, waiting for me, as he always had. Arms behind his back, concealed by his cape, eyes on fire. There was a certain ceremony I think I may have been ignorant to at the time. And yet, I was participating in it flawlessly. He smiled, and I drew my sword. The same sword. The master sword.. He only smiled. Odd how even his smile was full of hatred. I don't think it was in him to give up, no matter how many times he's seen it before.. He, like me, always had to try. He knew he had the power to win, and there was only forward.

"So, here we are once more, boy..", I could only remain silent.. It didn't appear he expected me to speak anyway. I never have. He continued., "You have my pity.". My expression must have betrayed that I didn't understand him, or maybe he was just prepared for that. That's not really what mattered though, what mattered was his utter familiarity with me. He knew me, and he knew exactly what to say to make me uneasy.

"Do you think you're special? _'Chosen of the gods'_ .. Hah.. Was I not 'chosen' as well? And look how your gods favour me." It was a subject that had always made me uneasy. I didn't like to think about things on the grandscale, and particularly placing myself in such a spotlight didn't ever seem.. Right. Worst of all, he had a point. Was he not Din's chosen?

"You're a puppet for Farore's amusement, and nothing more." I'm not sure why, but I was offended, and I took a stance to show it, even giving him a slight grimace. He only smiled, giving me that aeon old glare. "Look at your hand, boy! Even now your section of the triforce glows with her excitement. She watches us, like a slavering dog eager for it's meal. Don't let her down! Let's give the gods their bloodshed!" He was shouting now, and stepped forward agressively. Without thinking I charged forward, expecting him to clash. Only forward, always forward..

He caught me by suprise, jumping back at the last moment, and punishing my predictable move. As I swung my sword at the air he had only moments before occupied, he instead had sucked the very light from the room, and used it as a weapon to both blind me and blindside me. It was an unimaginable thing to perceive. In a moment he had drawn up the shadows to unimaginable levels, the arched ceiling of our battlefield disappearing into the liquid black abyss. Then, perverting the very light he had seemed to destroy, blinded me and struck me down with indescribable force. As I lay sprawled on my back with a smoking hole in my chest I felt as though he had called down the sun itself. But ofcourse... It was just a taste of what was to come. I was not ready. How could I have been? What could anyone hope for against such an ancient power? Ganondorf, chosen of Din and usurper of Nayru.

I felt a crushing weight on my chest as his ironshod boot came down, pinning me in place, and searched for the will to move. My sword arm began to lift with some effort, and as if to spite me, the very darkness, incorporeal and imperceivable, seemed to reach out as though alive, and sieze my wrist. But it could not touch the blade of evil's bane, and I retained my grip.

"Link.. Throughout all ages, you have remained a constant. A thorn in my side to which I had no remedy. Time and time again we have met and the gods have seen fit to stand in their miserable puppet's favour.", my vision was beginning to clear now, and I could see him looking down at me impassively. I managed to look defiant, I think. "But boy... You never change.", he increased the pressure on my chest, and I found myself gasping for air. "Persistent, foolish, predictable." I remember thinking he must be totally insane, we'd never met before. I wish that were the case.

I spun my sword in my hand, severing the shadow tether and freeing my arm. He was right, I was predictable. Before I could strike, the leg that was my target had already disappeared into the shadows and Ganon had sucked the light from the room once more, forming it into a perfect flourescent sphere above his head. Despite the blinding light it seemed to give off, as it grew the light in the room progressively dimmed and the darkness seemed to resonate with a nightmarish life. I'd swung my sword, too late to notice, and for my efforts, his boot met my chin. I'm sure by this point in my story you've realised that the details of my memory are impossibly clear.. I'll explain that later, but for now know that even to me, that moment is a swirl of black pain, the taste of blood, and confusion. I knew he sent me into the air, but how far and how high I cannot recall. I did not touch the ceiling, but this may only be so because Ganon brought that sphere down on me like a hammer, ending my ascent with a destructive descent.

I remember the pain of the impact, it was crushing, both inside and out. I remember a cascade of sharpened shadow, flaming iron and brimstone tearing away skin and soul alike. Force, power, raw in it's essence. Rent flesh, flaming spirit. The fist of a god. A blow Din herself might envy, and I think Farore felt it through me; the triforce on my hand flickered under the assault on my lifeforce. By some miracle my sword remained in my hand.

"Do you know why you can't ever back away? The gods cut out of you _everything_ they didn't need. You're not even human.."

I could hear him coming toward me, a steady march of clanking steel and echoes creating a sinister dirge. My legs were shaky, and yet, I stood. My shield had been shattered, and I couldn't find the will to look down at myself. Yet, I stood. And I took a step forward, always forward. Two steps, three... Before I knew it, or even considered it, I was running at him.

_Running forward. Forever forward. For this; they are ungrateful. Because I have only half a soul.. and for that; I am ungrateful. _


End file.
